HERRINGS. 105 
of which you only realise by having a thorough 
good sniff. Then, if you ever forget it, or wish 
to indulge your olfactory organ again, your tastes 
and mine, gentle reader, must widely differ. The 
oil is extracted and stored away (as described 
in a previous chapter) in native bottles. 
I have no hesitation in stating my conviction 
that herring-fisheries established east and west of 
Vancouver Island, or at different points along 
the mainland coast, in the Straits of Juan de 
Feuca, oramidst the islands in the Gulf of Georgia, 
would turn out most remunerative speculations. 
It is true that herring-fishing has been tried, 
but only on the most limited scale. To make it 
pay; for that, after all, is the primary considera- 
tion; capital must be employed, and skilled hands 
to manage the drying, curing, and packing. Salt 
can be obtained in any quantities; wood in abun- 
dance, to make casks, build houses, boats, or 
ships ; herrings within millions, requiring neither 
risk nor skill to catch. The rapidly-growing 
colonies of Vancouver Island and British Colum- 
bia offer ready markets for home consumption ; 
China, Japan, the Sandwich Islands, and the 
entire coast southward from San Francisco to 
Mexico, afford facilities for disposing of almost 
any quantity of preserved fish. Those who un- 
